AVPE Board Statement about the Trump Jerusalem Decision

The board of directors of Americans for a Vibrant Palestinian Economy (AVPE) views with deep concern the recent political developments by U.S. President Trump declaring Jerusalem Israel's capital.

Already challenged by working in a country under prolonged Israeli military occupation, AVPE's mission of "Creating Business Relationships Between Americans & Palestinians" is further hindered whenever the relevant stakeholders dismiss international law and the many applicable United Nations resolutions regarding the Israeli-Palestinian situation. The subsequent security deterioration across Palestine that has been the fallout of Trump's ill-fated declaration puts everyone at risk.

AVPE remains committed to supporting our vision to see "Americans & Palestinians Freely Doing Business Together" with the full conviction that creating jobs in Palestine and contributing to the business infrastructure that serves a State of Palestine, free from military occupation, is one concrete way to counter the despair and loss of hope that the reality, both politically and on the ground, have propagated.

AVPE is a nonprofit organization whose funding to date has come from the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds of five Palestinian companies, two American foundations and over sixty individual donors living in America. We receive no funding from the American government and our work is focused on connecting people from the business community in America and in Palestine. We were co-founded by an American living in the Chicago area who consulted with the American business community for nearly forty years and by a Palestinian-American, originally from Youngstown, Ohio and now living in the Ramallah area, who has been a pioneer in the Palestinian business sectors of telecommunications, retail development and strategy consulting.